The lady below us and her son arrived yesterday from Toulouse in southern France. She is probably close to 90 years old and he is in his 50’s. They keep pretty much to themselves. They arrive sometime between the first and middle of August and generally stay one month.
A comment Sandy has been forgetting is an item that is included on our salads at the restaurant B’ Art a Thè. The object appears to be the size and shape of a clear “Vitamin E” type gel cap but is full of balsamic vinaigrette. It is delicious! Wonder if we can find them in the US?
balsamic vinegar pearls
This morning we wanted to go to the Intermarche in Rocabey.We boarded the bus and wanted to get off at the first stop. We pressed the bell, the sign lit up showing a stop was requested. Sandy stood up, the man next to her also stood up and walked to the door. The driver drove past the stop. We called out “madame the stop please” in French and she kept driving. Another passenger said in English, you have to press the button. Sandy answered that she had, pointed to the red light, and finally the driver stopped at the next stop. The other passenger muttered to himself as we exited the bus. Apparently the driver was not having a good morning.
We were on our way to the Intermarche to look for packing tape. We found it in the hardware section with the adhesives.
We decided to walk home from the Intermarche and saw a lot of gulls on the basin.
GULLS on the basin
GULLS on the basin
GULLS on the basin
Later in the morning we packaged our two new watercolor paintings inside the tube, Christine gave us. We sealed it up with our new packing tape, and went to the post office. The lady who runs the post is always polite and patient when we mail items.
After lunch, the boules game was on and we were greeted by 6 players. It was almost too cool in the shady court, but the players didn’t have much choice. The sunny court was still quite wet from the recent rain while the shady court was dry.
There was an interesting ship moored in the basin: Sea Cloud II. We think this is the second time for it to be here this summer.
Civil ensign of Malta, not the official state flag
SEA CLOUD II from Malta
SEA CLOUD II from Malta
Lovely sunny day today.
mardi 20 août 2019 – Tuesday, August 20, 2019
At the market this morning, Sandy asked for 6 stems of small roses. The lady florist must think we’re frequent shoppers as she gave us 8 but only charged for five and a half. That was a nice discount and the flowers look great. Unfortunately, it’s our last bouquet here of the year.
After we shopped at the marché we took a walk through Saint-Servan and the Plage des Bas Sablons. It was high tide, although it was a low high tide, and the beach was very pretty and quite a few people were on the beach.
Plage des Bas Sablons
Plage des Bas Sablons
Another lovely sunny day.
mercredi 21 août 2019 – Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Sandy commented about less tourists being around this week, at least Intra-Muros section of Saint-Malo.
We walked to the Carrefour at Courtoisville, did our little bit of shopping, and then walked home on the digue. It was high tide and the waves were great to watch and listen to. It was sunny and bright. However, Sandy decided she was incorrect on the tourists. There were so many people, bicycles, scooters, strollers, joggers, that it was difficult to walk.
People enjoying the waves
pretty sails on the ocean
sailboats and small cabin cruisers
sail surfers in tow back to the beach
All of the parking lots we passed were full and there were lines of cars waiting to enter. Ugh!
We walked through the Esplanade Saint-Vincent and saw Bubble Guy! He is in the picture below with a purple shirt and white pants. The kids and adults love his act.
Bubble Guy was here and Sandy had just added to his take for the day.
In the afternoon we spent some time watching the boules game and then we went to the harbor.
Corsaire Ferries passing in the harbor
Corsair Ferries leaving the ramp
jeudi 22 août 2019 – Thursday, August 22, 2019
Sunny again, but cool, only 14C (58F).
Sandy spent two hours with her tutor Christine for the last time this year. Christine and her husband are taking off for two weeks at a friends home in southern Spain.
Phil purchased new interior door handles for our inside doors. The current handles were here when we purchased our apartment. Antique looking, brassy/gold in color and not always working correctly. The light fixtures and handles on our french doors are silvery/satin in color in a newer style. Phil was able to purchase enough to change all of the interior doors. They will look modern and in sync with the rest of the apartment.
We talked to Alain at the boules game in the afternoon. He told us Denise and Gilles, in Paris, are doing well. A beautiful, sunny, warm afternoon.
After talking with Alain we went to the harbor. We saw this great looking sailboat in the distance.
Love the sail on this boat.
Sandy spotted 3 cormorants in the harbor. They are awfully difficult to photograph because they spend a lot of time under water getting their food. When they surface they spend only a few seconds on surface and then they dive underwater. Since you never know where it is going to surface next it is difficult getting a good picture of the cormorant. Phil had been trying for about 4 years and had only succeeded in getting distant photos. But today Phil got lucky. He snapped off about 12 shots very quickly and got a great shot of a cormorant.
Cormorant swimming in the harbor.
vendredi 23 août 2019 – Friday, August 23, 2019
Sandy purchased a piece of watermelon, and other fresh fruit at the market. Monsieur Alix, his son, and lady assistant greeted us even though they didn’t wait on us. Always pleasant to see a smiling, friendly face.
We walked to Intermarche to pick up the last few needed items and walked home along the digue. We occasionally hear a jet or plane, but not often. We looked up, above the beach, to see the French equivalent of the Blue Angels flying in formation and spewing blue, white, and red smoke. We waited a few minutes and they passed again. Interesting!!
French military jets with a blue, white and red smoke trail
Interesting at the boules game today. Alain wasn’t there, which we knew, but another lady we’d watched all summer came and shook our hands and said bonjour. Probably if we were here another month we’d be on “bise,” kiss on both cheeks, terms.
Our son Michael is an assistant professor and librarian at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. A photo of him while presenting to a class has been added to the library web site. So he sent us a screen capture of the web site with his picture. Very nice to see.
Michael on the Hope College library web site.
samedi 24 août 2019 – Saturday, August 24, 2019
The forecast for today is hot with a high of 30C (86F). Absolutely too hot!
However the water temperature st the beach was absolutely cold! The temperature in the water was 19C (64F) and super cold. It took quite awhile of continually moving around in the water before Sandy was numb enough not to feel the cold.
Sandy does not always do well in cold water. Here the temperature is 19C (66F).
On our way back, we met our neighbors that live in Versailles, France and own the apartment on the top floor of our building. They just returned from a trip to Beirut, Lebanon and said the ocean temperature there was 29C (84F). They invited us for an aperitif at noon on Sunday to see all of the remodeling they had completed earlier this spring and summer.
dimanche 18 août 2019 – Sunday, August 18, 2019
At noon we went up to our neighbors apartment on 5th floor (6th floor in the USA) for an aperitif. They are on the top floor of the apartment building. Natale and Nicolas were there with their son Corentin. They were spending just a couple of days here to take a look at the remodeling work they were having done on the attic apartment which is above their apartment. They had purchased the attic and were remodeling it so their children Corentin and his sister Gwenaëlle could use it as their own vacation spot. The remodeling was coming along very nicely and looked great. Gwenaëlle was not with her family because she is spending the college semester in Beirut, Lebanon.
We spent a good amount of time discussing family matters, world affairs and just about anything else you could think of. We really enjoyed the tuna dip and the lobster dip. Phil got to try a new drink which Nicolas mixed. Unfortunately Phil cannot remember the name of the drink, but it was a potent drink.
We had a great late afternoon dinner at the B’Art à Thé restaurant. This was probably our 6th time at the restaurant and every meal had been delicious.
Phil’s flank steak, potatoes, and salad.
Sandy’s bruschetta, with chicken and salad.
How to view additional photos.
You can view an album of photos by clicking one of the following links. The photo album will open in a new browser window with the photos.
Note: If a picture does not have a caption below it, you can mouse over the picture to see a caption.
le lundi 31 julliet 2017 – Monday, July 31, 2017
Sandy walked to the doctor’s office to make an appointment for Phil. He will see another “sub” doctor at 16:45 this afternoon. Then Sandy made split pea soup with carrots, potatoes, and a little ham. We had some for lunch.
After lunch Sandy took at walk to the harbor. There was a very long line of people waiting for one of the Corsair Ferries to take then to Dinard.
waiting for the ferry
the ferry approaches
boarding the ferry
Good thing it was cool today or they would have gotten sun-burnt waiting in the sun for their boat.
Next she stopped at the boules area to watch a game. She recognized several players, but our friend Alain wasn’t one of them.
We walked to Phil’s doctor appointment, saw the doctor, stopped at the pharmacy for 3 prescriptions priced at 25€ and were home within one hour. That was the fastest medical appointment we’ve experienced here. Phil has a sinus infection, lungs sounded good the doctor told him.
le mardi 1 août 2017 – Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Sandy shopped for fruit at the Intra-Muros marché and Monsieur Alix told her that there were no more strawberries due to the drought and hot temperatures. Phil is still resting in our apartment. She took the #8 bus to the Courtoisville Carrefour Market to pick up a couple items and look at the beach on the way.
She walked to the Gambetta bus stop and returned on the #3 bus, all within the 90 minutes use of one ticket.
After lunch Sandy spent some time on the beach walking in ankle deep water. She forgot just how shocking cold the ocean is. The air temperature was 69 F or 21 C and sunny. Great temperature to be outdoors. She saw a jelly fish laying in the sand (the tide was going out) as large as a dinner plate.
le mercredi 2 août 2017 – Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Phil woke up feeling much better today. Hurrah!
It was raining fairly hard this morning so Sandy purchased our breakfast from Maison du Pain which is very close. The lady in front of her bought the last 2 croissants so we had pain au chocolat for breakfast. Delicious!
After it stopped raining around 11:30 we took a walk to the Gare to purchase monthly bus passes. This allows us to ride as many times on the bus as we want within the month of August. It is much more convenient.
Then we crossed the street to go to the La Grande Passerelle Mediatheque, also know as the library. We brought our most recent utility bill so our address could be verified and we could renew our library card. Sandy checked out a few books in English to read for pleasure and a few non fiction children’s books written in French to help her with vocabulary etc.
After lunch Sandy walked to the boules area to see if our friend Alain was playing. Surprise! The boules area was under water. We forgot how much it had rained in the morning. A man was using a spade like shovel to scoop water off the field. Maybe it will be dry enough tomorrow because we were having very strong wind after the rain.
le jeudi 3 août 2017 – Thursday, August 3, 2017
Busy day. We bought train tickets for our trip back to Paris as part of our return to the USA in September. Shopped at Intermarche grocery store. The cashier told us to put my fidelity card number on the phone app. We did download the app and will use it the next time.
We bought steak and chicken breasts at the butcher in the Rocabey marché.
in the marché
in the marché
in the marché
We put the groceries away, and then walked to Charley’s Bar and spent the next hour people watching.
Charly’s Bar
After lunch, we reserved a hotel room at the CDG airport for the night before we fly back to USA.
We watched the “course des garçons de café” at 4 pm. Waiters from the restaurants race with a tray on which was placed a filled class of water and a bottle of water. The goal is to finish the race with your tray intact. Not an easy thing to do, especially down the stairs!
course des garçons de café
That evening we had a delicious steak dinner and after dinner, stopped at L’Entre Deux Verres to reserve a table for tomorrow.
We then listened to Les Corsaires Malouins. They are a local group of singers who specialize in sea shanties. They do a free concert each Thursday evening in July and August. The crowd gathers on the steps and enjoys a great little concert.
Les Corsaires Malouins
le vendredi 4 août 2017 – Friday, August 4, 2017
Our 44th wedding anniversary!
This is first day for French tutoring with Christine. I forget from last year just how exhausting it is to continuously concentrate for two hours!
On the way to the bus stop after tutoring, we admired the garden of Christine’s neighbor. Last year, we thought one of the shrubs in the yard had kumquats on it. The owner was out in the yard and Phil spoke to him. The shrub we had been admiring was a Passion shrub. The blooms are beautiful and the fruit resembles a kumquat. Interesting! We enjoyed a 10 minute conversation about his yard, then we had to hurry to catch the bus.
We were very tired when we arrived home. Had some lunch, took care of necessary chores, took a tiny nap and then had a coffee at Charley’s Bar.
We celebrated our anniversary dinner at a restaurant we’d looked at before, but not eaten at. It was called L’Entre Deux Verres which translates to Between Two Glasses.
L’Entre Deux Verres
We counted 14 tables which comfortably seated two people at each table. There is seating outside, but it was too cool to enjoy eating there. We toasted our anniversary with red fruit billinis and sauvignon blanc. Phil had a kind of souffle fish and potato starter. Sandy chose lobster linguine for a main dish and Phil had chicken in a pastry with grains and vegetables. For dessert we had apple caramel tiramisu and pistachio crème brûlée. We had a 19:30 reservation and the restaurant didn’t fill up until sometime between 20:45 and 21:30. A lovely way to celebrate an anniversary. It was delicious and a new dining experience for us.
the menue
entre / starter
chicken with veg
pasta and lobster
tiarmisu
creme brulee
le samedi 5 août 2017 – Saturday, August 5, 2017
Today is the grand braderie or flea market of Saint-Servan. We walked across the lock/bridge and the wind was fairly strong. Sandy wore a light jacket but Phil did not. Looking at all of the items for sale was interesting. We bought a brand new cutting board for 1€ and a book on the origins of all the Saint-Malo streets 10€.
Saint-Servan flea-market
le dimanche 6 août 2017 – Sunday, August 6, 2017
It is a beautiful day. After breakfast we walked to Rocabey for their flea-market. All of the tents with items for sale were from a charitable organization. We didn’t purchase anything today. We did see every kind of aperitif glass imaginable!
We returned to Intra-Muros by walking along the Sillon beach. There were many people enjoying the cold water! The temperature of the ocean is about 17 C or 62 F. Too cold for me. We stopped in at Jean-Louis J’s store on the Grand Rue to make a couple small purchases. His boutique is very cute and everything is nicely displayed. As usual in France, he individually wrapped each item even curling the ribbon for a decoration. After lunch we walked to see if Alain was playing boules. While the course was in much better shape than the last time I saw it, no games were being played today.
Later in the afternoon, we walked to the beach and had an Orangina drink at the bar which is right on the beach.
.
